When ESPN first launched Sports Nation in 2009, starring Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd, the hosts captivated viewers with their witty banter and unorthodox interactions with off-camera crew members while on the air. Three years later, Colin Cowherd left the show, clearing the way for his replacements, Marcellus Wiley and Max Kellerman. In 2016, Max made the tough decision to leave Michelle Beadle and his best friend, Marcellus Wiley, at Sports Nation in lieu of replacing Skip Bayless as the co-host of First Take with Stephen A. Smith.
Max Kellerman's five-year tenure on First Take was infamously marred by his co-host and boss, Stephen A. Smith, who constantly mocked his basketball knowledge and berated him personally with eye-rolls and punchlines that sometimes included his career accomplishments. Eventually, Stephen A. Smith's on-air antics encouraged the show's contributors, such as Kendrick Perkins and Dan Orlovsky, to join in at Max's expense. Max was fired from First Take in 2021 and released from ESPN in July. Since then, Stephen A. Smith as been vocal about his reason for no longer wanting to work with Max. Now, Max's old friends/co-workers are coming to his defense.
Marcellus Wiley and Stephen A. Smith have engaged in back-and-forth commentary centered on the way the latter treated Max on the job. This week, Michelle Beadle weighed in on the bullying that Max had to endure on the air for years.
Max and Marcellus' former co-host shared her thoughts during an interview. Scroll up and press play to hear what she had to say.
Source: YouTube
